Christians are condemned today because they have a Bible: Pope

Vatican City, 4 March 2014: "The Cross is always there in the Christian way", said Pope Francis during his homily at Mass he celebrated on Tuesday at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. Focusing his homily on the persecution of Christians, the Pope said that there are more martyrs today than in the early days of the Church.

In his homily, the Pope took as his cue the biblical account of where Peter asked Jesus what the disciples would receive in return for following him. He said Peter probably thought that following Jesus would be a great commercial activity because Jesus is generous but, as Christ warned, whatever they would gain would always be accompanied by persecutions.

Pope Francis went on to warn that the Cross is always present on the road of the a Christian!” We will have many brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers in the Church, in the Christian community, but we also will have persecutions.

“This is because the world does not tolerate the divinity of Christ. It doesn’t tolerate the announcement of the Gospel. It does not tolerate the Beatitudes. And so we have persecutions: with words, with insults, the things that they said about Christians in the early centuries, the condemnations, imprisonment…. But we easily forget. We think of the many Christians, 60 years ago, in the labour camps, in the camps of the Nazis, of the communists: So many of them!

Pope Francis pointed out that there are many brothers and sister nowadays who bear witness to Jesus and are persecuted. Some cannot even carry around a Bible.

“They are condemned for having a Bible. They can’t wear a crucifix. And this is the road of Jesus. But it is a joyful road because our Lord never tests us beyond what we can bear. Christian life is not a commercial advantage, it’s not making a career: It’s simply following Jesus, concluded Pope Francis. Source: VR Sedoc